We
are not detached observers. . . .
We
are not detached observers in life. I've lived in the academic world
all my adult life and taught professionally for 42 years including
many Bible classes and preaching. I have 3 degrees and have written
extensively and have been well-trained in the aura of
“professionalism” as a “detached observer.” But there is no
such person, though many are self-deluded (or “victims of their own
propaganda.”) You can't “observe” life without being a
participant. You're here on planet earth in this universe in
this time and place and history. You're part of the problem and
you're not totally objective no matter what you think. Besides that,
you're finite, a created being, and you have what we call “the Old
Sin Nature.” In other words, you're a “fallen creature in a
fallen world.” “A creature”, a “created being”--not God or
“a god” whatever that might mean.
On
the other hand, “subjectivity” certainly is not the “solution”
to the problem! And that does tend to be the trend today! I'm
shocked at how often I see people implying that they are the
“authority” and the final word in whatever issue they are
discussing. Just because they believe it or say it, they seem to
assume that you are supposed to accept it. And so I ask them, “By
what Authority do you say these things or believe these things?”
You are not your own “authority” and you are not “autonomous.”
You didn't create yourself and you don't keep yourself alive. You
are dependent on God for the very breath you breathe and for the
ability to breathe it. But it's provided by God, not by you. The
same is true of your water and food and all else in life. “ In Him
we live and move and have our being.” Acts
17:28 “and have our being”? Yes, our very
existence! You are not “self-created” and neither is anyone
else.
The
Bible never assumes a “detached observer” status. It's designed
to glorify God and lead us to Him and in the process show us “how
to live” and what to believe. God created the heavens and the
earth and all that is in them. In wisdom He made them all. His
great power provides food and the ability to produce it and use it
with thankfulness to 5 billion people and untold numbers of animals
of the field and forest, the birds of the air, and the fish of the
sea. What He gives,
they gather.
Psalm
104:28
So also are we dependent upon God's provision and are thankful for
it.
God
not only created all the stars and planets, but He calls them all by
name and holds them in orbit. He positioned the earth in just the
right relationship to the sun to sustain human life and maintains
that stability throughout history. So
then where is history going?
Scripture reveals that, too. “But
God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he
loved us,
even
when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him
and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
so
that
in the coming ages he
might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us
in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians
2:4-7 ESV
Back
then to that elusive question, “How then should we live?” The
heart of the answer is, among other places, in 2 Corinthians chapter
4: “. . . by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. . . . , but
by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to
everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. . . .
For
what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus
Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
For
God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.”
4:1-6
